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Rules
Rolls The game uses six-side dice. The amount of dice you roll is referred to as a dice pool. Additions to the dice ppol are often noted by a number in front of the term "D6", which means a six-sided die. So "3D6" refers to three six-sided dice. Hits When you roll, you want to see fives and sixes. Each of these numbers that comes up is called a hit. The more hits you roll, the better you do at whatever you're attempting to do. Thresholds Whenever you roll, you'll be trying to get enough hits to meet a threshold, which is the number of hits you need to do the thing you're trying to do. The threshold changes according to what you're trying to do and its difficulty. Sometimes the threshold will be a set number of hits, and sometimes you'll be trying to get more hits than an opponent. Glitches If more than half the dice you rolled show a one, this is called a glitch. When you glitch, something bad happens. You might drop your gun or trip over a broken piece of pavement. Whatever happens should make your life more difficult while not disastrously interfering with your work. The gamemaster may also rule to increase the intensity of a glitch according to the number of ones or (lack of) hits. In the circumstances where a player rolls a glitch and also does not achieve a single hit, this is called a critical glitch. These are the dice rolls that could put a character's life at risk, where they're going to have to think fast and move faster in order to get out in one piece. A critical glitch should throw a monkey-wrench into the shadowrunners' plans, making them scramble to recover. Buying Hits Sometimes it can save time to skip a test when the outcome is not critical to the story, especially if the player has so many dice that they can be fairly sure they'll succeed. When buying hits, a player foregoes rolling any dice. Instead, you can count one hit for every four dice in your pool, rounded down. Buying hits at any given moment can only be done with the gamemaster's approval. Test Types There are different types of tests that may come up according to the situation, and they determine what kind of rolls are made to overcome a situation. They are Success Tests, Opposed Tests, Extended Tests and Teamwork Tests. Success Tests Success tests generally occur when a shadowrunner has to use their abilities to accomplish something within a short frame of time. A success test, also known as simple test, is a matter of rolling enough hits to meet the threshold for the test. Opposed Tests Opposed tests happen when a shadowrunner has to pit their skills against another individual's. Opposed tests also do not list a threshold, because in this test you're trying to generate more hits than your opponent. Extended Tests Extended tests take place over time. Whether you're doing an activity over a span of minutes, days, or hours, an extended test consists of making repeated rolls and accumulating the results until you either meet the threshold or run out of time. These tests also have a specific interval, which determines how much time the character spends on each consecutive roll. In addition to this, a character removes one die from their dice pool before each consecutive roll, ending their extended test if the number of dice reaches zero. Depending on the nature of the test, the rolls do not need to be made concurrently. A character may set aside the task for a while, do something else, and then pick up where they left off later. If a glitch happens during an extended test, the gamemaster may choose the reduce the number of hits accumulated to this point. On a critical glitch, however, the test automatically fails. Teamwork Tests Teamwork tests simulate the effect of group members working together. To start a teamwork test, someone has to be chosen to act as the leader. The others serve as assistants, and roll the appropriate skill + attribute. For each hit the assistants make, the leader's dice pool gets one extra die. The maximum number of die that can be added to the test is equal to the leader's rating in the applicable skill, or highest attribute rating if the test involves two attributes. The leader rolls their adjusted dice pool and tries to beat the threshold just like a simple test. If any assistant rolls a critical glitch, the leader gets no extra dice from them, in addition to suffering the effects of a critical glitch. Trying Again Re-trying on a failed test is allowed, but characters suffer a cumulative -2 penalty on each successive try. If a character takes a sufficient break, with a duration determined by the gamemaster, they may try the task again with no such penalties. Time Passage Sometimes time is essential to determine the outcome of a situation, but even in those situations it is better to keep track of time in an abstract manner rather than measuring it down to the second. Combat Turns Combat turns are used to measure the passage of time when fighting breaks out. Each turn lasts approximately three seconds, during which each participant gets the chance to take their own actions. Actions There are three different kinds of actions: Free Actions, Simple Actions and Complex Actions. In their own turn during combat, each character takes a specific action or combination of actions, and then roll tests to determine the results. Attributes Attributes are the inherent characteristics of a character. The numerical rating for each attribute helps determine the amount of dice rolled for related skill tests. Attributes fall into three different groups: Physical, Mental, and Special. All characters have ratings in the each of the Physical and Mental attributes, but that may not be true for Special attributes. Physical Attributes Body (BOD) Body measures your physical health and resiliency. It determines how much damage you can stay and stay on your feet, and your ability to resist damage, poisons and diseases. Agility (AGI) Agility measures your coordination, flexibility, balance and nimbleness. It is the most important attribute when trying to score hits during combat, whether you're swinging your sword or carefully aiming a rifle. It is also critical in some non-combat situations, such as sneaking quietly past guards. Reaction (REA) Reaction is about awareness, reflexes and the character's ability to respond to the events around them. This attribute has an important role in deciding how fast characters are able to act in combat and how skilled they are in avoiding enemy attacks. Strength (STR) Strength is an indicator of the character's physical strength, and represents how much damage they are able to do in physical combat. Stronger characters are also able to move or carry more weight, and the attribute is also used in athletic tasks such as climbing, running or swimming. Mental Attributes Willpower (WIL) Willpower is a character's desire to push through adversity, resist the weariness of spellcasting and to stay upright after taking a hit. Logic (LOG) Logic measures the calculating power of a character's rational mind. Whether it is to repair complicated machinery, patch up an injured teammate, resist the drain from casting an hermetic spell or attack an enemy in an online battle, logic helps you get things right. Intuition (INT) Intuition is akin to the character's gut instinct that tells them things before the logical brain is able to figure them out. It helps anticipating ambushes, noticing something out of place, or staying in the trail of someone else. Charisma (CHA) Charisma is a character's force of personality, the persuasiveness and charm that they can call on to get other people to do what they want. It is not only about appearance, but also about how they use what they have to charm or intimidate other people. It also helps resisting the drain from casting a shamanic spell. Special Attributes Essence (ESS) Essence measures a character's level of humanity. There are many opportunities for a character to alter their body or push it beyond it's limits. Such actions often have a cost, and can result in a loss of humanity. Each character starts with an Essence rating of 6, and any lost points cannot be recovered. It also affects the Magic and Resonance attributes, as losses in Essence cause losses in those attributes as well. Edge (EDG) Edge is an intangible benefit, a boost of luck that a character may receive in tough a situation. Edge points may be pent by the player to acquire certain effects. Magic (MAG) Magic is the attribute used to cast spells is any way. Most individuals have a rating of zero, and only mages or adepts need this quality. Magic measures how capable they are in the arcane arts and how much power they can draw to help in their efforts. Resonance (RES) Resonance is the attribute which technomancers use to interface with the Matrix using the power of their mind, and other individuals usually have a rating of zero. Resonance measures the strength of their ability to interact with and shape their environment. Initiative Initiative governs how quickly a character responds in a combat situation. A character’s Initiative attribute is their Reaction plus their Intuition. Initiative Dice are extra dice used to roll a character’s Initiative Score. They generally come from gear, spells, or adept powers. Everyone has one and can get up to four more (for a total of five) from various gear, spells, and other effects. Hackers get extra initiative dice depending on how they interact with the Matrix. Condition Monitors Condition Monitors are used to track the damage inflicted on a character. Player characters have two Condition Monitors; one tracks Physical damage, the other tracks Stun damage. Each Condition Monitor has a specific number of boxes arrayed in rows of three boxes apiece. The Physical Condition Monitor has boxes equal to half the character’s Body (rounded up) + 8; the Stun Condition Monitor has boxes equaling half the character’s Willpower (rounded up) + 8. When a row of the Condition Monitor is filled up, the player character takes a –1 penalty to all subsequent tests. This penalty stacks for each row of the Condition Monitor that is filled in. Obviously, walking around with a damaged Condition Monitor is problematic, and characters will want healing as soon as possible. Skills The other part of the dice pool equation, along with attributes, is a character’s skills. Skills represent the knowledge and abilities the character has picked up throughout his life. Skills cover a wide variety of topics, such as the ability to shoot a gun, a proficiency with disguises, and a knack for repairing vehicles and machines. Skills come in two main categories: Active skills and Knowledge skills. Active skills cover the things characters do, while Knowledge skills cover the facts and information the character has acquired over their career, including speaking languages other than their native tongue. Skills are linked to a specific attribute, and the ratings of the skill and linked attribute, added together, form the dice pool for most tests. Characters may attempt some skill-based tests even if they don’t have any ranks in the skill. This is known as defaulting. For example, even if you’re not trained in the art of running, you can still attempt a sprint to see just how much ground you can cover. In these instances, your dice pool for the test equals your ranking in the linked attribute – 1. There are some skills, though, for which tests cannot default if you don’t have the appropriate skill—guts and a willingness to pitch in sometimes just aren’t a substitute for actual abilities. All the can-do spirit in the world won’t help you speak Russian if you don’t have any knowledge of the language, or repair a car if you’re not familiar with the basic workings of the machinery involved. It’s nice to be able to do everything, but sometimes you have to wait for an expert.